The Emperor Protects
by Ratnote
Summary: The origin of the Shipgirls has always been a subject of debate. Not one human knows where they truly came from, not even the Shipgirls themselves do. But, the truth is, they have a father. One who swore to never again let one of his children fall.
1. A Dance With Death

I don't own Kantai Collection or Warhammer 40,000.

In the year 2020 CE, humanity faced it's greatest test in it's many years of existence. They were known as Abyssals. They took the form of demonic parodies of the human race. But, as it always is, where there is a great darkness, there shall also be a great light. This light was the shipgirls, spirits of warships fallen in service to their country, at first mankind's greatest minds were skeptical, but with everything else going on in the world, it was not too much of a leap anyway. To this day, none know of the true origins of the shipgirls or the Abyssals. None except one. The one who had created them in the first place. Once, long ago, he had been known as the Emperor of Mankind, Lord of Terra and the Guardian of Humanity. But those times were long gone. Many billions of years ago the Emperor had awoken to a great blackness. Simply put, there was nothing, no life, no planets, no stars. Nothing except him. He was supposed to be dead. He had sacrificed his soul for his people. He had given them a second chance to live free of the eternal darkness that was Chaos. He thought on his situation for many years. He eventually came to the conclusion that he would have to set in motion a series of events that would be known as "the Big Bang" to the modern world. He waited many long years, seeing the rise and fall of countless species, reflecting on his choices and mistakes as the Emperor of the Imperium. He waited for the perfect moment. At that moment, 315,000 years before the present day, the Emperor created a spark. A spark that would become mankind.

The Emperor had decided long ago that he would not directly interfere with the development of humanity, they would have to progress on their own merit this time around. He would only watch from the shadows and gently guide them if need be, a "dream" here and a "eureka" there. His time as ruler of mankind had ended with his sacrifice all those years ago. Mankind had progressed as he had expected it, just as he remembered. Humanity was undisturbed in their isolation from the galaxy for countless millennia. That all changed when the Abyssals appeared. At first, the Emperor was confused as to the nature of these creatures. Were they Xenos? Were they beings of the Warp? Finding an answer to that question would have to be put on hold however, as the current militaries of Earth would not be able to beat back this new threat. So the Emperor devised a plan to save his species. He would create a new subset of humanity with his own blood, they would have limited psychic powers and would be stronger than the Astartes of his Imperium. But most importantly, they would have a soul. They would be capable of free thought, of emotion. They would be his daughters. The Emperor had spent almost a year contemplating how he would accomplish this while still hiding his existence from the human race. In the end he decided that he would offer the machine spirits of fallen warships a second chance as humans. They would be one unbreakable shield against the coming darkness, one last blade forged in defiance of fate. In that long year, Earth had not fared well. The most powerful navy in the world, that of the United States of America, had lost almost eighty-five percent of it's combat effective ships. However, not all hope was lost.

On January 14th 2021, the world changed. A refugee ship coming from Indonesia to Japan had come under attack by a small Abyssal force of two destroyers. All hope had seemed lost, but a young girl had appeared, skating on the water, wearing odd equipment on her back. She had fought off the two destroyers and escorted the ship safely to Japan. When she was questioned, she had identified herself as the IJN destroyer Fubuki. The incident had made world headlines and many different reactions came of it. There were those who believed these "shipgirls" were a sign of deliverance by the diety they worshiped. There were others who believed this was a miracle of science, and there were those who simply could not accept this new reality they lived in.

That had been almost 2 years ago. The Abyssal threat had been diminished in many areas of the world, including the Pacific Ocean. It seemed that the Abyssals knew this too, as they had gathered what had to be most of their remaining forces in the Pacific for a major assault on the Japanese naval base at Yokosuka. The base had been abandoned by the US Navy near the outbreak of the war, the carrier battlegroup there had been demolished in battle and the JMSDF needed a base for it's new shipgirls, so the base was brought back under Japanese control. In the present day however, Kagerou class destroyer Kuroshio was not faring well. There were a considerable amount of ships much larger and more heavily armed than she in the immediate vicinity. And now one of them had spotted her… she knew the shells were flying the moment she saw the malevolent grin at the things face. The Abyssal was a princess, meaning big guns. She could not evade the barrage, maybe she could survive the hits? Oh who was she kidding, her armor wouldn't be able to stand up to the guns on a heavy cruiser let alone the princess in charge of this whole operation! Resigning herself to her fate Kuroshio looked around at her home, at her family. She could see her sisters performing a torpedo run on a squadron of Abyssal heavy cruisers in the distance, she was assigned to their division, but had been separated from them in the fighting that had ensued. She saw the pride of the fleet, the 1st Carrier Division's Akagi and Kaga launching planes not far from her position. It spoke volumes of the hardships being faced by the fleet that two of it's finest carriers were so close to harm. She could even see the Admiral in the distance yelling to one of the JMSDF's radio operators, as not even Ooyodo could be spared from the fighting. No matter how one looked at it, the fleet was not faring yell, it was only a matter of time before the endless waves of Abyssals overcame their defenses and razed the base to the ground. Ah, yes, her impending doom. It seemed her time was up, she could see the shells racing towards her.

5.

4.

3.

2.

1.

Kuroshio's vision was engulfed in a bright light.

The Emperor of Mankind had sensed a great distress in one of his daughters. Most shipgirls experienced a good deal of fear when going into battle, it was a natural reaction to a deadly experience. This however was so great he turned away from his work to observe what could have possibly caused this. He gazed down to Terra and saw a great battle taking place at the Japanese naval base at Yokosuka. It seemed that the Abyssals were performing one last suicidal attack on the shipgirls stationed there. It was going much better then they had expected. Instead of being a last act of defiance, it had turned into what was becoming a total victory. The commanders there had not expected this behavior at all. While his daughters had been doing an exceptional job holding off the enemy, they were being worn down bit by bit, a good number of shipgirls were too wounded to continue fighting, and the ones that had stayed in battle this long were nearing the end of their ropes as well. His attention was particularly drawn to Kuroshio, one of the Kagerou class destroyers. She was about to be sunk by a massive barrage of shells from one of the abominations "princesses". She had seen the beast fire it's batteries and had accepted her fate, which was what the Emperor had picked up on. Now, when he had put his plan in action he had sworn that not one of his daughters would fall to the depths of the ocean. He would not fail them like he had failed his sons. He would not have a repeat of Horus Lupercal or Sanguinius. He would defend them to the death if their lives depended on it, even if it meant breaking his cover. He had promised them a second chance to live as humans. He would not see them deprived of it. And so the Emperor of Mankind, Lord of Terra and Guardian of Humanity took up arms once more in defense of his species. Those who dared threaten his daughters would learn the meaning of the phrase his subjects had been so fond of.

The Emperor Protects.


	2. Revelations

I don't own Kantai Collection or Warhammer 40,000.

Thanks for the Reviews.

Kuroshio was confused. It was understandable, she should be dead. Afterall, her paper thin destroyer armor had a less than zero chance of deflecting the massive shells that should have hit her. The question remained then: how was she alive? She didn't dare open her eyes, fearing that this might actually be the some weird human afterlife and that she might actually be dead. She started patting herself down to make sure her body was still intact. Left leg, check. Right leg, damaged, but no more than before the barrage. Arms, all good. Torso, still intact. Well maybe she wasn't dead. It was then that she noticed it. The sounds of battle, or lack thereof. The sounds of the waves were definitely still there, so she hadn't moved. There was a bird, stupid animal was probably going to get itself killed. So where was the cacophony of the last stand that had been fought not a minute ago? Well, there was only one way to find out. With no small amount of trepidation, she cracked her eyes open just a smidgen. What she saw shook her to the core. She was most definitely in the middle of the very same warzone she had just been fighting in. The only problem was that every being present, both shipgirl and abyssal, had stopped fighting. And they were all staring at her. Or maybe at something behind her? Deciding to ignore the fact that she was still in a situation potentially not conducive to her continued good health, she slowly pivoted on her Water SkatesTM, to get a look behind her. What she saw was definitely not what she had been expecting.

The Emperor had put at least a little effort into concealing his identity and his aura. He had modeled his armor on that of his greatest ally and most loyal friend, Malcador the Sigillite. He was currently wrapped in a dark brown hooded cloak psychically infused to withstand more punishment than any set of Terminator armor could have ever hoped to provide. Under the cloak he wore brass-gold coloured adamantium plating intricately carved with images of his many deeds and his personal crest, the Aquilla. His hands were armored in the same impossibly detailed adamantium. His face was concealed in a dark golden mask devoid of any detail save for the features of his face and openings at his nostrils, mouth and eyes. If all went to plan, his armor would conceal his appearance from any who would wish to uncover his identity and would provide a sufficiently menacing countenance to his foes. His choice of armament would consist of a steel grey staff with a golden bird of prey at the head eternally burning with the spirit of mankind, he would also be armed with his trusty blade, fashioned in the heart of the universe and sharp enough to cut through just about anything, if the blade itself wasn't overkill enough, it could be infused with his psychic might to produce an incandescent flame hotter than the very stars themselves. It was sheathed in a dark gold adamantium scabbard draped across his back. The Emperor doubted he would be required to use either of his weapons of mass destruction in this confrontation though. He was reasonably certain his mind would be enough. It never hurts to be prepared though. Finally ready to depart, the Guardian of Humanity called upon one of his personal favorite psychic abilities: teleportation, it was astoundingly useful and never failed to amaze! He had no doubt this time would be any exception. The beasts threatening his daughters would find that they had made a very powerful enemy indeed…  
Kuroshio's gaze was met by the sight of the massive shell that had been launched in her general direction just… hovering in the air not ten feet in front of her. Kuroshio could deal with the standard bullshit that came with her job, but this was a little bit over the line. She couldn't really blame the participants on both sides of the conflict for their shock. This just shouldn't happen.

"I would not so quickly assume thy victory, beast."

Was she hallucinating? That sounded like a male voice. In the middle of the freaking ocean. In the middle of a warzone. Unless she was out of the loop, there weren't quite any shipboys yet. She had thought it impossible, but she was even more confused. In her befuddled daze, Kuroshio forgot that there was still a very much deadly battleship sized shell right next to her… which promptly fell and plopped into the ocean. Well there was still the understandably pissed off Abyssal princess that was quite intent on ending her.

BOOM!

BOOM!

And there went it's guns… she couldn't get THAT lucky twice in one day, right? Wrong. The shells from the Abyssal's artillery barely made it a hundred or so feet out of the barrels before they once again just stopped. And disintegrated… Kuroshio was starting to wonder if she her food or drank had been drugged, because this was a solid ten on the impossibility scale.

"It seems thou hast not learned thy lesson, daemon. Very well. I shall make myself crystal clear. Thou hast earned mine wrath today."

As those words were spoken, Kuroshio realized that she had never actually figured out where the person speaking them was. Just then, an ear-splitting crack of thunder accompanied by the biggest bolt lightning she had ever seen struck the ocean. Kuroshio thought she would feel at least a tingle from the electricity travelling through the water, but there was nothing. Once she had determined that no, she was not roasted alive, she took a look at the point of impact.

"Thy doom is upon thee, spawn of the warp!" shouted a figure standing precisely where the bolt had struck.

He was wreathed in a cloak of dark brown material had his extremities armored in a dark golden material. While intimidating, this alone was not enough to warrant the look of absolute terror on the faces of even the princess! The figure turned to face her and the other Shipgirls. Oh. That would do it. Under the hooded of his cloak was an impeccably detailed face mask made of the same golden material as his armor. While unsettling by itself, the mask paled in comparison to the man's eyes. Or at least where his eyes should have been. They were instead replaced by two almost too bright to look at pinpricks of pure golden light. When his gaze swept over her, Kuroshio felt as if her soul was being laid bare. But, even though she should have been terrified, she just wasn't… The light didn't feel hostile, in fact it felt rather inviting and warm, like a hug from one her sisters. In her musings, Kuroshio completely missed the fact that the man had approached to within touching distance of her. She was only roused from her thoughts by the metallic grip of a hand on her shoulder. She looked up into the face of the man.

"I made a promise that not one of thou would fall while I still kept watch. I do not intend to break that promise."

His hand lifted itself from her shoulder. She immediately wished it had not. She felt like she should know him from somewhere. But she just couldn't place it! The man deliberately strode over to where he had been standing, maybe a hundred feet from her and three hundred from the princess. By this time, the princess had regained it's senses, the other Abyssals recognizing a duel was taking place, and the Shipgirls held back by some unseen force. Kuroshio could only watch as the man and the Abyssal stared each other down. The Abyssal fired it's main battery, while the man did not move a muscle. When the shells impacted their target, a massive explosion shook the atmosphere. Kuroshio was crushed, this man had sacrificed his life for hers. The Abyssal, on the other hand, had a toothy, malevolent grin on it's face, thinking it had seen the last of this new adversary.

"It would seem thou do not learn."

The combatants on both sides froze. It was impossible to survive a direct hit from battleship caliber artillery, right?

"The Dark Gods themselves could not vanquish me, what makes thee think thou ever stood a chance at it?"

The man emerged from the smoke, not a single scratch worse for wear. His eyes seemed to glow with an even more intense light. And then Kuroshio heard a scream. This scream was not the scream of one her sisters or a human. It was warped and twisted. She looked towards the Abyssal's leader and found the source of it. The princess was literally on fire. As in pieces of it's body were melting off and it was slowly sinking beneath the waves. Suddenly, Kuroshio's ears were assaulted with hundreds, if not thousands of similar cries of agony as she looked around saw that not only was the princess melting, so was _every other Abyssal_. Just as fast as it had begun, it was over. The sound of silence was the only thing greeting her ears as she comprehended that there were no more Abyssals left on the battlefield. She heard the sound of heavy footsteps coming towards her and turned to see the man towering over her.

"W-Who are y-you?" She stuttered.

The man chuckled as he said "Child, I hast been known by many names over mine long years. Jesus Christ, Augustus Caeser, Alexander the Great, Napoleon, and George Washington among them."

Kuroshio's eyes grew to size of saucers and her knees buckled at that long list of _very_ famous names.

As the man removed his mask and pushed off his hood. He smiled at her, no hint of the anger he had been showing later, only love in his eyes, he said "But thou, mine daughter, may call me father."


End file.
